These are the clever tricks Olympic athletes use to overcome anxiety

Anyone who's suffered from intense nerves or worse, full-blown anxiety, will understand how difficult it is to calm down in a situation of panic. And for the Olympic athletes currently competing in Rio, anxiety is something they need to invest a lot of time in managing if they want to perform to the best of their ability.

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So when we caught up with Olympic Team GB medal winners Laura Trott and Jessica Ennis-Hill in Rio this week, we thought we'd quiz them on exactly how they remain calm and composed in the build up to the race. Because they might look brave, but that doesn't always reflect how they feel inside.

"I get so nervous," Laura told Cosmopolitan.co.uk. "People will be like 'you've achieved so much, how can you be nervous?' But it's because I care so much about it."

Laura explained that the British cycling team works very closely with psychologists because nerves can be so difficult to ignore when you compete for a living. The two-time Rio gold medal winner, who's also ambassador for Always' brilliant #LikeAGirl campaign encouraging girls to stay in sport, revealed that she has two favoured techniques for calming herself down.

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The first one is all to do with breathing, and really ties into the idea of mindfulness - only thinking about what you're doing in that very moment and not allowing your mind to run away with worries about past events and those in the future.

"It sounds stupid but by thinking about your breathing, it stops you thinking about anything else. If you push your belly out when you take a breath in, like doing the opposite to what you think you should do, it really helps," Laura said.

"It's hard to do but it makes you think about that instead of thinking about the race or whatever it is that you're going out there to do," the Essex-born athlete explained to us.

And there's something else the athletes are advised to do by their team of professionals.

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"We also do a relaxation thing where you work through every muscle in your body; so you point your toes and hold it for three seconds, then you tense your calf and work all the way up. By the time you get to your head and your neck you're supposed to be relaxed.

"It usually works," added Laura.

Jess Ennis-Hill gets similarly anxious before she competes. "During the competition and particularly the lead-up, I'm really anxious. You just don't know what's going to happen and you've put all that time and effort and hard work in," she said.

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However, the heptathlon medal winner takes a slightly different approach to how she deals with those fears.

"I just kind of distract my mind with thinking about the process of what I have to do and I try to put the emotions to one side. So I start off focusing on hurdles - that's the first event - this is what I need to do, this is what I need to think about, and then I go on to the next event.

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I try to think about it in a really logical way and break it down so it's not so overwhelming," Jess, who's ambassador for P&G's 'Thank You Mum' campaign, adds.

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And that goes for anyone, whatever they're feeling anxious about; not just professional athletes building up to an Olympic race. So why not try and take a leaf out of their book next time your worries feel like they're getting on top of you? You never know, it could work for you, too.

Laura Trott is the ambassador for the Always #LikeAGirl campaign, inspiring girls across the country to stay confident and keep playing #LikeAGirl .